Last updated on December 8th, 2024 at 05:59 am
We see brown pelicans along South Florida beaches all the time, but white pelicans in Florida are another story. They are two to three times larger than brown pelicans and they go to extraordinary efforts to get their winter in the sun. Thousands migrate to Florida from the mountains and plains of the U.S. northwest. By spring, like all snowbirds, they head north.
White pelicans have a wingspan of 9 feet, making them one of the largest birds in North America. They are graceful in the air, often flying in a formation. They have almost comically large bills and pouches.
All this means these are the sort of big, dramatic birds that even folks who don’t consider themselves birders will enjoy spotting.
While not common, you can find white pelicans on both the Gulf and the Atlantic Coast in winter if you know where to look.
White pelicans near Punta Gorda
Around Punta Gorda, white pelicans from the Grand Tetons return each winter to an island that serves as a rookery and night-time roost in Charlotte Harbor. Called White Pelican Island, it’s a long, long paddle for kayakers and the birds are there primarily at the start and end of a day. So locals recommend looking for them in several parks and waterfront locations during the day.
One recommended vantage point is Placida, an out-of-the-way location far from the Interstate and 25 miles from Punta Gorda — the sort of off-the-beaten-path spot that’s fun to discover. It’s located at the start of the causeway to Boca Grande and Gasparilla Island. A good place to try is the boat dock at The Fishery restaurant, 13000 Fishery Rd., Placida, or the nearby fishing pier.
If you’re a kayaker, you can launch your kayak from Placida Park, 6499 Gasparilla Road, Placida, and if you’re lucky, spot some white pelicans. Once, when kayaking from here, I saw a formation of some 75 white pelicans fly overhead in October. Several outfitters take trips into the adjacent Gasparilla Sound.
How white pelicans feed
The truly lucky to get see the white pelicans in their unusual feeding technique. White pelicans do not use the plunge-dive technique of their brown cousins. Instead, they work together, beating their wings to herd fish into a tight circle. They have a symbiotic relationships with cormorants, who dive under this circle, both feeding and driving fish to the surface, where the pelicans can feast on them.
Wildlife photographer John Young (JRYoung1947 on Flickr.com) captured just such a feeding scene – a wild splashing ruckus involving white and brown pelicans plus cormorants – in Merritt Island on the central Atlantic coast.
“This was at Kiwanis Island Park,” Young wrote. “I usually go there for osprey. I bumped into this spot a couple of years ago. It is not on the (Merritt Island National Wildlife) refuge but on a neat fish-heavy waterway.”
Birders who want to check it out can follow John’s directions: The address is 951 Kiwanis Island Park Road, Merritt Island. From US 1, go east 3.2 miles on SR-520. Turn into the park complex at the light just east of Sykes Creek Parkway. The park is open 7 a.m.to 9 p.m.
(The photos on this page are courtesy of John Young. )
Other places to spot white pelicans:
- My favorite experience with white pelicans is viewing them off the waterfront in the fishing village of Cortez, located between Bradenton and Anna Marie Island. About three dozen white pelicans move from oyster bar to derelict fishing shanty to various docks, all in a picturesque working harbor. If you get a delicious fresh fish lunch at my favorite spot in Cortez, the funky Star Fish Restaurant, you have a good chance of spotting white pelicans.
- In Fort Myers, Bunche Beach, 18201 John Morris Road, is a bird-watchers’ paradise. The beach is surrounded by sandbars and shallow water that attract white pelicans as well as a great variety of other birds. We’ve kayaked here and loved seeing the pelicans and everything else.
- In South Florida, a flock of white pelicans hangs around Peaceful Waters Sanctuary in Wellington in winter.
- In the Ten Thousand Islands off of Everglades City, we’ve kayaked off Chokoloskee, putting in at the fascinating Smallwood Store, and encountered flocks of white pelicans.
- In Everglades National Park in the waters off Flamingo, you can spot white pelicans in Florida Bay and in Eco Pond across from the Flamingo campground. We kayaked from Flamingo into the Snake Bight waterway and saw
- Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center’s Alligator Creek Preserve 10941 Burnt Store Road, South Punta Gorda.
- Circle B Bar Reserve, 4399 Winter Lake Road Lakeland, Fl 33803; entrance on south side of SR 540 (Winter Lake Road) between US 98 and Thornhill Road, Lakeland (Circle Bar B Reserve is a favorite among birders.)
- J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, 1 Wildlife Drive, Sanibel Island.
- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The Visitor Information Center is located four miles east of Titusville.
- Seminole Rest in the Canaveral National Seashore. A flock of white pelicans spends the winter loafing on a shell bar directly behind the historic Goodrich’s Seafood Restaurant, 253 River Road, Oak Hill, which is just north of Seminole Rest, according to spacecoastbirding.com. Yelpers love Goodrich’s. This out-of-the-way waterfront seafood restaurant makes a neat stop during a pelican-sighting trip.
- Pelican Island in the Indian River Lagoon was the nation’s first wildlife refuge. While it was preserved because it was a nesting area for brown pelicans, it is visited by wintering white pelicans too.
- You can see them right in downtown Lakeland, where they take up residence in Lake Morton.
- This list is not comprehensive. (If you’ve spotted flocks of white pelicans in other locations, please add them via the comments.)
More about white pelicans
- Here are great pictures of white pelicans at Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland.
- Impressive video of a flock of migrating white pelicans near Cedar Key.
More birding resources from Florida Rambler
- Florida Great Birding and Wildlife Trail: How to use this excellent website.
- Flamingos in Florida: Back for good?
- Birds hold court at Wakodahatchee Wetlands & Green Cay in suburban Palm Beach County
- Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray: Wood storks nesting in spring
- Peaceful Waters Sanctuary, Wellington: Top birding spot in sububan Palm Beach County
- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge: Birds, beauty galore
- White pelicans: How to see spectacular birds wintering in Florida
- Circle B Bar Reserve: Lakeland park is terrific for wildlife
- Thousands of birds migrate over Keys in fall
- St. Augustine Alligator Farm bird rookery is thrilling for birders
- Fort Myers Bunche Beach: Heaven for birders, kayakers
- Naples Bird Rookery Swamp: 9 ways it’s great for hiking, biking
- Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge: Wild spot to hike and see wildlife
- Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
We just returned from Tiger Tail beach on Marco Island where we observed a group of 6 white pelicans in the lagoon.
We’ve been to Tiger Tail many, many times and this is the first time we have seen whites!
We have pics.
Jan 15, 2024
That’s awesome! If you’d like, send pix to floridarambler@gmail.com .
Today we were blessed to see five of these gorgeous birds on our small lake here in Ocala.
Every year around the same time a flock arrives at a pond in Laurel Oak Estates in Sarasota. We look forward to seeing them. They are awesomely beautiful birds!
I just saw a formation of four of them flying over downtown St Petersburg , of all things! At first I thought they were large paper kites…they are stunning!
Hundreds of White Pelicans floated up the Intercoastal Waterway this morning in South Venice, Fl. It was breathtaking because you could see them coming for such a long way as we biked on the Legacy Trail. Lived here 36 years and have only seen a few. It was quite a tourist attraction for everyone enjoying the Trail!
You’re so lucky! That sounds amazing. Such big beautiful birds; even a handful is impressive. But hundreds! Wow.
We spotted a small flock, 5-6 birds, feeding in the flats off of No Name Key FL on 20 January, 2022.
We spotted about 40 white pelicans in Seminole County Florida first on Hunt Club Boulevard in Wekiva subdivision, Longwood-Apopka. They were in Hunt Club Pond Yesterday but today they are in the Wekiva Cove subdivision (Sand Lake sometimes referred to as Wekiva Cove Lake) Longwood-Apopka. I have lived here since 1982 and this is the first sighting.
I’ve seen them a number of times recently and in past years in Sarasota Bay. There is a small lake in the TPC Prestancia here in South Sarasota and every time I ride my bike by, they are there. About a half dozen or so.
12/25/21 Just returned from Myakka State Park where I spotted a flock of (possibly 100) white pelicans from the bird viewing walk. Spectacular!
American White Pelicans arrived in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL in large flocks, 12/19/21. Have never seen them in the canal in my backyard until this morning. Beautiful creatures!
I saw quite a few white pelican’s on Big Lake Harris in Tavares, Florida. Our family owned lake front property for 73 years and this was my first sighting. I lived on the property for several years, 2015 -2019. I believe this sighting was in 2018. They were out in front enjoying their stop-over. I did not realize this was a rare sighting in Lake County. I have seen them on occasion in New Smyrna Beach. The first sighting there were a quite a few; the next day only a few stragglers. I did take photos. Property was sold in 2019.
I’ve see hundreds of white pelicans at a time at T.M Goodwin WMA near the Stick Marsh in Indian River County. Not 100% guaranteed to see them every trip though. Only issue are the hours at T.M. Goodwin;
T. M. Goodwin Unit (Vehicle Access): Mondays and Thursdays, 9:00am-4:00pm
Broadmoor Marsh Unit (Vehicle Access): Thursdays, 9:00am-4:00pm
Walk-in access: Daily, 1 hour before sunrise to 1 hour after sunset
(except on Saturdays and Tuesdays during waterfowl and snipe seasons)
We live on a lakefront in Palmetto, and are blessed to be visited by a group of some 80 white pelicans every year….beautiful and fascinating birds!
1/28/20 – we just saw a flock flying (low) over the north end of Cape San Blas, FL. Didn’t even know they existed. Beautiful!
There are over 100 White Pelicans at Lake Morton. It is an interesting site to see them next to the Swans, Cranes, and other avian wildlife.
Thanks! I had to Google Lake Morton. It’s a lake within the town of Lakeland. But WOW the image that Google displayed on the map sure illustrates that there are white pelicans there. Take a look.
Visiting next week. Should I go to Celery Fields? Where off Palmer. Im looking to see White Pelicans. Thank you
White pelicans are seen at the Celery Fields at this time of year, but there is no guarantee. You might also look in the Intracoastal waters off Cortez in Bradenton. (Details here. https://www.floridarambler.com/historic-florida-getaways/cortez-fishing-village-seafood-restaurants/ )
I have spotted them here in Sarasota off Palmer Drive. They return here every year to a small lake/pond and there are usually about a hundred or more. This is the third year they have returned and it is amazing to see.
Sounds like a great sight and a useful tip. Thanks for sharing for our readers in the Sarasota area. Is the spot you’re talking about part of the Audubon Nature Center/Celery Fields or nearby? http://www.sarasotaaudubon.org/capital-campaign/the-celery-fields/
I am a snowbird living On Cockroach Bay. Ruskin Fl. We border a nature preserve. This year we have a flock of 20 of more white pelicans. We have wood storks also
We live in Vero Beach. Lots of White Pelicans near us in Sebastion at Hiriams.
We saw hundreds of white pelicans at Fort DeSoto Park St Petersburg this Sunday afternoon. What a glorious sigh!!
Thanks for posting this. I have never seen HUNDREDS. That would be an amazing site.